Editing Psalms (section)

{{Short description|Book of sacred songs in the Hebrew Bible}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{redirect-multi|3|Psalm|Psalmody|Tehilim|the wine grape variety|Psalmody (grape)|the Hebrew film|Tehilim (film){{!}}''Tehilim'' (film)|other uses|Psalm (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Psalms scroll.PNG|thumb|Scroll of the Psalms]]
{{Tanakh OT|Ketuvim|WP}}
The '''Book of Psalms''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ɑː|(|l|)|m|z}} {{respell|SAH(L)MZ}}, {{IPAc-en|usalso|s|ɔː|(|l|)|m|z}};<ref>"[https://www.ldoceonline.com/Christianity-topic/psalm Psalm]." ''[[Longman Pronunciation Dictionary]]''. Pearson.</ref> {{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|תְּהִלִּים}}|Tehillīm|praises}}; {{langx|grc|Ψαλμός|Psalmós}}; {{langx|la|Liber Psalmorum}}; {{langx|ar|مَزْمُور|Mazmūr}}, in [[Islam]] also called '''Zabur''', {{langx|ar|زَبُورُ|Zabūr}}), also known as the '''Psalter''', is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh ([[Hebrew Bible]]) called {{transliteration|he|[[Ketuvim]]}} ('Writings'), and a book of the [[Old Testament]].{{sfn|Mazor|2011|p=589}}

The book is an [[anthology]] of [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] religious [[hymns]]. In the [[Judaism|Jewish]] and [[Western Christianity|Western Christian]] traditions, there are 150 psalms, and several more in the [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern Christian]] churches.{{sfn|Kselman|2007|p=775}}{{sfn|Berlin|Brettler|2004|p=1282}} The book is divided into five sections, each ending with a [[doxology]], a hymn of praise. There are several types of psalms, including hymns or songs of praise, communal and individual laments, [[royal psalms]], [[Imprecatory Psalms|imprecation]], and individual thanksgivings. The book also includes psalms of communal thanksgiving, wisdom, pilgrimage and other categories.

Many of the psalms contain attributions to the name of [[David|King David]] and other Biblical figures including [[Asaph (biblical figure)|Asaph]], the [[Korahites|sons of Korah]], Moses and [[Solomon]]. Davidic authorship of the Psalms is not accepted as historical fact by modern scholars, who view it as a way to link biblical writings to well-known figures; while the dating of the Psalms is “notoriously difficult,” some are considered preexilic and others postexilic.{{sfn|Berlin|Brettler|2004|p=1282}} The [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] suggest that the ordering and content of the later psalms (Psalms 90–150) was not fixed as of the mid-1st century&nbsp;CE.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Collins, John J. Introduction to the Hebrew Bible: Third Edition (2018). p. 498. Fortress Press.</ref> Septuagint scholars, including [[Eugene Ulrich]], have argued that the Hebrew Psalter was not closed until the 1st century&nbsp;CE.<ref>Wilson, Gerald, "King, Messiah, and the Reign of God: Revisiting the Royal Psalms and the Shape of the Psalter." The Book of Psalms: Composition and Reception. p. 394. Brill. 2005.</ref><ref>{{cite book
| last1 = Ulrich
| first1 = Eugene
| title = Qumran Cave 4: XI: Psalms to Chronicles
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| year = 2000
| isbn = 978-0198269434
}}</ref>

The English-language title of the book derives from the Greek word {{tlit|grc|psalmoi}} ({{lang|grc|ψαλμοί}}), meaning {{gloss|instrumental music}}, and by extension referring to "the words accompanying the music".{{sfn|Murphy|1993|p=626}} Its Hebrew name, {{tlit|he|Tehillim}} ({{lang|he|תהילים}}), means {{gloss|praises}}, as it contains many praises and supplications to God.